This archive report was first published on 28 October 2021.
On Thursday, Kenya's former Chief Justice Willy Mutunga urged judges to take a stand against the Executive's defiance of court orders, citing the case of lawyer Miguna Miguna.
Speaking at the United Green Movement party's headquarters in Nairobi, Dr. Mutunga emphasized the need for judges to assert their authority and uphold the rule of law.
Dr. Mutunga's remarks come as he prepares to travel to Canada to accompany lawyer Miguna Miguna back into the country. Miguna Miguna, a firebrand opposition lawyer, was ejected from Kenya in February 2018 after being arrested for his role in the mock inauguration of opposition leader Raila Odinga as the "people's president".
Despite the High Court's ruling that barred the Director of Criminal Investigations (DCI) and the Inspector General (IG) of the police from preferring any criminal charges against him and ordered that he be set free, Miguna Miguna's subsequent attempts to return to the country from Canada have been futile.
Dr. Mutunga has accused the government of disobeying court orders and infringing on Miguna Miguna's rights as a citizen of the country. He has also accused the state of abducting and torturing Miguna Miguna at his home in Nairobi before deportation in 2018.
"I have taken this extraordinary step for two fundamental reasons," Dr. Mutunga said in a statement released during Mashujaa Day celebrations. "The first is because of the continued, flagrant and reprehensible defiance of the Government of Kenya, its agencies, and senior officials, against the numerous valid court orders in favour of Mr. Miguna."
Dr. Mutunga's decision to accompany Miguna Miguna back to Kenya is a protest move against the government, which he believes has ignored several court orders to bring the lawyer back.
